The Faerie Pet: Part Five

"No!" I screamed. The darkness swallowed my voice. All around me, there was nothing but empty blackness that I couldn't escape from. I remembered how the Acara had warned me not to let myself be imprisoned until I freed Naiyania. I had failed. How could I have been so foolish?

     Tears began to well in my eyes. Quiggler... Lulu... Sparkler! My siblings, the ones I loved... and my Greeble, Prince... was I never to see any of them again? Was I doomed to live in the darkness forever?

     The Jetsam's voice came again. "No doubt you know about the dark chamber. The palace brat told you about it, I assume?"

     "She called it a 'prison', not the 'dark chamber.' I didn't know it would be like this," I said weakly.

     "In that case, an explanation is in order." The Jetsam sounded almost gleeful as he told me, "You cannot get out of the dark chamber on your own. You must have help, from one who is not imprisoned."

     "Yes, and it has to be a faerie or one with faerie powers," I said. "She told me that."

     "Well, you must know that the Dark Faeries kindly granted us the ability to use certain dark powers. So we can free you anytime we want," the Jetsam said. "If you were to agree to help us out after all, we might release you. But I won't talk about that yet. You are probably wondering why you can hear me. Well, any pet in the dark chamber is linked to the one who put her there, and the two can communicate with each other, but with no one else."

     "You put Naiyania and her subjects in this horrible prison, too, didn't you?" I demanded. "Where are they?"

     "They are in the dark chamber. The dark chamber is a complex construction which is not really a place within Neopia, but a realm all its own, containing nothing but darkness. The Dark Faeries, of course, invented it. Quite useful."

     He laughed, and I tried not to cry. I wanted nothing more than to get out of this place. I couldn't imagine being forced to stay here for the rest of my life.

     "Everyone who is confined to the dark chamber has a separate 'room', so to speak, consisting of endless darkness. You can walk as far as you want and never reach Naiyania, because she is in a different room from yours," the Jetsam told me. "You see that the dark chamber is quite... isolated." He laughed cruelly.

     "But I would be willing to let you go free, if you will simply get the Sea Sapphire for us. Twice, you agreed to help us, only to betray us later on. This will be the third time. If you fail us again, there will be no more chances. You will be confined to the dark chamber for life. And I will not be as merciful as I am now."

     The Jetsam's voice entered my mind and resounded there, his threats echoing in my head. I didn't want to help him, but I couldn't very well do anything while I was trapped in the dark chamber. This seemed to be my only chance to get out. I took a deep breath and said, "I'll help you."

     "Good," came a pleased-sounding rasp. "I trust that you will be true to your word this time. You can't afford not to be."

     And then, the darkness vanished. I was floating in the water, ringed by evil Jetsams, just as before. I felt shaky and frightened, and I wanted nothing more than to get away and see Nut and my siblings again.

     The Jetsams began pushing me towards the palace, and I could do nothing to stop them. They brought me right up to the window where I had entered before and nudged me to go in. The blue Jetsam said threateningly, "Remember, if you fail, we will show you no mercy!"

     Scared and shaking, I swam through the palace rooms, no longer marveling at their withered splendor. The Jetsams were waiting for me outside. They could imprison me in the dark chamber or free me at will. I was powerless. I wasn't a faerie pet. I couldn't do anything to save myself, much less Naiyania. I didn't know what to do.

     The trapdoor that led to the Sea Sapphire's holding room opened at my touch, and I was able to enter. The yellow Acara was still there, waiting for me. Her clear eyes looked disturbed as soon as they lit on me. "You have not freed Naiyania!" she said, her normally calm tone suddenly anxious. "You were captured by the Darkness. You will endanger the palace!"

     I didn't know how she could figure all that out just by looking at me. I looked at her, and I saw the truth and kindness radiating from her body. I didn't want to betray her. But I couldn't help both her and the Jetsams.

     "There will be no more chances... " The Jetsam's words echoed in my mind. I couldn't allow myself to go back to the dark chamber, I just couldn't. Nut and my siblings would be devastated. Even if it meant that Naiyania would never return, I had to save myself.

     I reached out, and in one quick move, before I could stop myself or change my mind, the Sea Sapphire was off of the pedestal and in my fin. The gem stopped glowing as soon as the pedestal no longer touched it. The power had been cut off, and the palace was no longer protected.

     The walls of the palace stopped glowing and became lifeless blue, as did the floor. The yellow Acara looked at me with horror in her gentle eyes, and I felt sick with the knowledge that I had destroyed her hopes for me. But what else could I do, under the circumstances?

     "Evil has entered the palace," the Acara said.

     I thought she was referring to me, but then I saw a Jetsam swim under the open trapdoor in the floor. They had come in.

     The Acara suddenly regained her calm nature. She looked around and said, "The palace is fueled by goodness. It cannot stand once defiled by evil."

     I looked around. To my horror, the once beautiful, if fragile, pale blue walls were rapidly changing to a dark gray color. The floor was doing the same. Cracks formed in the pedestal on which the Sea Sapphire had rested, and soon the ornately carved object was nothing more than a pile of rubble. Ugly webs of cracks were appearing in the now-gray walls and floor.

     In fright, I swam through the trapdoor into the lower floor, and found that the palace was disintegrating here, too. Pieces of the walls were beginning to fall out and land on the floor, which in turn gave way. In a frenzy, I dropped the Sea Sapphire and swam rapidly through the palace. The library was being destroyed like everything else, and the books were falling off their shelves and sinking through the water. I ignored the books and swam down into the throne room. What was it like there?

     It was worse than I'd ever imagined. The once pure white tiles were black and corroded, and had lost their glow of light. Worst of all was the throne; it had been reduced to a pile of fine dust. Never again would a queen rule from it.

     I was watching the once magnificent palace being destroyed before my eyes, and I was the cause of it. I had started this whole disaster. I hardly knew what to think, other than to get away. Chunks of the ceiling fell away, and I swam out of a palace window into the sea beyond and watched as the palace collapsed.

     Gray rubble was all that was left of the beautiful palace where the Water Faerie queen had ruled. I felt like crying. I had done this. I was to blame for it. Why had I listened to evil?

     Speaking of evil, the entire group of Jetsams swam out from amidst the rubble, followed by one yellow Acara. The Jetsams looked satisfied with themselves. "That's the end of Naiyania's kingdom for sure," they said with a smirk at each other. "She will never reign here again. That will teach her to try to be good. And in our section of the sea, no less!"

     "Speaking of good," said the blue Jetsam. "The faerie pet is no longer of use. Imprison her and the palace subject."

     A red Jetsam swam over to the gentle yellow Acara and touched her with his fin. She disappeared instantly, and I felt horrible as I realized that that good, truthful pet had been removed to the dark chamber, never to come out.

     Then I saw the blue Jetsam coming towards me. He was going to trap me in the dark chamber again. No. I couldn't let that happen. I turned, intent on getting away. I am a fast swimmer, and I knew I could escape the clumsy Jetsam.

     But something inside me stopped me from running away. Something within me, something that lay deep within my heart, something I'd never known existed inside me, rose to the surface. A feeling that I had never felt before ran through my body, a feeling of power. Power was coursing through me. I felt strong suddenly, as if no evil could ever stop me. I turned and faced the Jetsam.

     He had his fin out, ready to send me to the dark chamber with a touch. I wasn't going to let him. Power was still flowing through me, making my mind stronger as well. I looked down and saw that my fins had begun to glow brightly; one fin was glowing yellow, the other aqua blue, and I knew it was from my power. I had power. I did. And I had to use it. It was my destiny. I may have ruined the palace, but I still had a chance to save the queen.

     The moment that the Jetsam laid his fin on me, my power exploded. I felt it transferring from inside to outside, and twin beams of light shot out of my fins, surprising me. The Jetsam looked more so, however, and his face twisted into a snarl. But he had no chance to say anything. The light shone through the water, and power flowed along the beams of light. In the middle of all the Jetsams, who were watching in stunned horror, the two lights joined into one blazing ball of yellow and blue, and exploded.

     Then everything was still. I felt weak again. My eyes locked on the place where the ball had blown up, and I saw a faint wisp of purple smoke appear in the water and fade away.

     And then, appearing as if from nowhere, a regal Water Faerie entered the midst of the sea. Her pale blue scales shone in the water, and her eyes were clearest blue, almost like liquid themselves. Her hair, unlike most Water Faeries', was a bright aquamarine blue, rippling in the water. She carried a long staff, also colored blue, with a glowing blue orb at its tip. She was beautiful. I stared in awe.

     The Jetsams stared at her in horror. The Water Faerie glanced at them and waved her staff. A beam of blue light shot out and covered the Jetsams. The light seemed to draw out an ugly purple mist from each Jetsam, a mist that faded away as had the purple smoke. The darkness. They no longer had the power of the darkness.

     The Water Faerie looked at the Jetsams disapprovingly. In a whisper, she said, "For this, you will be banished from my sanctuary. You shall never return."

     The Jetsams vanished as soon as her words were spoken.

     The beautiful Water Faerie raised her staff and closed her eyes, and a soothing blue light shone from the orb atop her staff. I watched in fascination.

     Then pets began appearing. Out of nowhere, dozens and dozens of pets suddenly began swimming through the water alongside the Water Faerie. Other Flotsams, Jetsams, Koi, pets painted Maraquan, and other aquatic pets appeared in the water, including the yellow Acara who had been imprisoned in the dark chamber. She looked joyful.

     "Our Queen, you have returned at last!" she cried.

     My heart lifted. The pets were free. All of the pets were free from the terrible dark chamber. Every pet that had been imprisoned over the years, and I saw now that there were hundreds swimming through the water, was free and safe now that the Water Faerie was here.

     Then the Water Faerie turned to me, her kind blue eyes beaming down on me with love and caring. "You have freed me. Floater, the faerie pet, has come at last."

     "Yes... yes. I was... I mean, I am... I'm Floater," I stammered.

     The Water Faerie smiled, her blue hair waving in the water as her staff glowed brightly. "I am Naiyania."

To be continued...